Final position — Black delivers mate
French Defence: Queen Mate (Dake–Pauli)
Black wins in 9 moves by checkmate. (Dake - Pauli, Baltimore 1936)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | e6 |
| 2. | d4 | d5 |
| 3. | Nc3 | Bb4 |
| 4. | Ne2 | dxe4 |
| 5. | a3 | Bxc3+ |
| 6. | Nxc3 | Nc6 |
| 7. | Qg4 | Nxd4 |
| 8. | Qxg7 | Nxc2+ |
| 9. | Ke2 | Qd3# |
How the French Defence: Queen Mate (Dake–Pauli) works
The French Defence: Queen Mate (Dake–Pauli) is a classic chess opening trap arising from the French Defence. In this line Black delivers checkmate on move 9, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from White.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Ne2 dxe4 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Nxc3 Nc6 7.Qg4 Nxd4 8.Qxg7 Nxc2+ 9.Ke2 Qd3#. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — White walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Dake - Pauli, Baltimore 1936). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as Black or sidestep it as White.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the French Defence: Queen Mate (Dake–Pauli) in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.